Oneman's York & East Midlands Bus blog

Friday, 10 June 2016

I believe that the United Kingdom is stronger as a member of
the European Union.

But I’ll start explaining why with a few admissions:

I do not think that the European Union is
perfect;

I think that the European Union is better as an
economic community, rather than a political one;

I think it was a mistake to allow the E10
countries into the European Union, it worked far better when all member states
were of a similar economic standing.

However, we are not being asked whether or not we think the
EU is perfect. We are being asked if we believe the United Kingdom is better
off inside or outside the EU. I believe that we are stronger in.

This campaign has often appealed to emotion rather than
logic or reason. But I am far more logical than emotive. I have not yet heard a
convincing argument for leaving the EU and I believe that the evidence, on
balance, suggests that it would be a disaster for the UK, the impact of which
will be felt for a long time to come.

I’ll go through the key areas
individually:

Safety and security

One hundred years ago, we were in the middle of World War
One- the war to end all wars. Except it wasn’t- World War Two followed not long
after. These wars were started by, and were primarily fought by countries that
are today members of the European Union and it’s hard to imagine war on our
doorstep in today’s world.

I’m not suggesting that the EU will declare war on the UK as
soon as we vote to leave, but the EU has helped bring Europe together and has
contributed to peace on the continent.

One of Vote Leave’s main arguments is that as a member of
the EU we are more vulnerable to terrorist attack because of our inability to
control our borders. I believe the opposite to be true.

The Schengen area does exist, you can move freely across
Schengen countries without showing your passport at national borders. But the
UK is not part of the Schengen area. You have to show your passport upon
entering the United Kingdom if you’re coming in from Sweden or Somalia, Iraq or
Italy. We do have control over who enters our country and that will not change
if we vote to leave.

What would change, however, is where these checks take
place. Currently, under the Le Touqet treaty, signed on the basis of our EU
membership, border checks for those entering into the UK from Calais take place
on the French side of the Channel. That means that a fence, a large stretch of
water and another fence separates us from the Schengen zone and all the
horrible evil people that the leave campaign claim roam freely across it. If we
left, the border would move to Dover and all that would separate us would be
one fence. I know which I deem to be safer.

We’d also lose cooperation with other EU police forces. We
saw, after the Bataclan terror attacks, how the terrorists fled to another
country- Belgium. We need to be able to work closely with other forces and
share information if we are to keep our population as safe as possible and the
European Arrest Warrant helps bring those who flee the UK to justice. The Leave
campaign criticise the EAW but I fail to understand how you can; if you’ve
committed a crime, you should be brought to justice, regardless of whether or
not you have left the country.

In my view, the UK is safer as part of the European Union.

The economy

The honest truth on the economy is that we do not know what
will happen. Both sides can only predict but based on what is already happening
with the possibility of Vote Leave winning suggests to me that a Brexit would
not be good news for the economy.

What I do know, however, is that once we vote to leave, a
two year negotiation period beings and that means two years of not knowing what
will happen, or “economic uncertainty.”

That in itself will damage our economy significantly.
Investors will be wary of investing in the UK, meaning they’ll invest
elsewhere. That means jobs will go elsewhere. That means income for the
Government will go elsewhere. I’ll give an example. Major international
companies invest in the UK, for example Toyota, who have a plant in Burnaston,
Derbyshire. Let’s assume that they haven’t yet built that plant and are
considering where to build a new European factory. Would you build that plant
in France, where you know you will be able to trade freely and easily with the
rest of Europe, or in the UK where there is a possibility that you’ll only be
able to trade tariff free to inside the UK? Any sensible business would go for
the safe option and invest in France. That’s potentially thousands of skilled
jobs going elsewhere.

That’s at least two years of non-confidence in Britain’s
economy, quite possibly longer. Our economy is still fragile from the last
economic collapse, falling two years behind our EU counterparts could be disastrous
and it could take us a long time to recover.

Democracy

Most laws passed by the European Union are passed via the ‘Ordinary
Legislative Procedure.’ Laws have to be passed by two bodies:

The European Parliament, made up of 751 MEPs, 73
of which are from the United Kingdom;

Council of the European Union, made of one
minster per state. The minister is the relevant person for each piece of
legislation, so Patrick McLoughlin would represent us for transport
legislation, Jeremy Hunt for health legislation etc.

To me, this is no less democratic than the UK’s system. In
the UK, we have no say over who our ministers are. The Prime Minister can
reshuffle his cabinet at any time without any public involvement. They are
generally elected MPs however, and form part of the majority government, even
if the Westminster process for voting is not particularly democratic. They are,
however, experts in the field having worked in the areas on a domestic basis so
are best placed to deliberate policy in that area.

We also only have the power to elect one MP to represent the
views of our constituency. Even if that MP does not get 50% of the local vote,
if they receive the most votes they represent you. If you live in Derbyshire
Dales, you have no say over the MP for Brighton Pavillion and they are not accountable
to you. You cannot therefore rely on a different MP to represent your area’s
views, particularly when the UK is so diverse- the interests of constituencies
in Northern Scotland will be very different to those in East London.

It’s the same situation for MEPs. You elect MEPs to
represent your area, whilst other MEPs represent the views of their area. It’s
just on a larger scale. That’s just the way democracy works. MEPs are also elected
via a proportional representation system, more democratic than the first past
the post system used for Westminster.

And that’s all before you consider that there’s no EU equivalent
to the House of Lords.

The democracy argument is messy and complicated, but in my
view the EU is just as, if not more democratic than the UK’s political system.
Yes, we lose sovereignty to Brussels but the fact that this referendum is
happening shows that we have the option to reclaim it when necessary. If you
want to get legally technical, the Factortame
case in the House of Lords (now Supreme Court) ruled that the UK is still sovereign
as an EU member state on that basis. So is giving Brussels power a strong
enough reason to leave the EU? As it currently stands, in my opinion, no.

Future trade agreements

According to the ONS, in 2014 trade within the EU accounted
for 44.6% of exports and 53.2% of imports. That’s a significant amount and
under the free movement of trade, no tariffs are placed on those goods and
services. Unless an agreement is put in place, that stops after two years if we
leave the EU.

The Leave Campaign seem to suggest that other countries will
be chomping at the bit to reach an agreement with the UK. But I’m not so sure.

First of all, EU members, in particular France are going to
be reluctant to reach a nice agreement with us. The UK is not the only country
in the EU with Eurosceptic factions and there will be plenty watching what
happens to the UK with interest. If we get a fantastic deal then there’ll
potentially be a queue for the exit door and the people who will likely be
negotiating a deal won’t want that to happen. So don’t expect us to get an easy
ride.

The Norway solution seems to be frequently touted as the
solution to all of our problems. Well, it isn’t. Norway is not a member state
of the EU but is a member of the European Economic Area. This means they are
able to trade with the EU in the same way that we are. However, in order for
this to be facilitate, they are obliged to follow EU regulations and have to contribute
financially to the EU but without having any influence over the making of
regulations. The Norway solution would be leaving the EU for the sake of saying
we’ve left- the main issues that Vote Leave have with the EU would continue to
be issues for the UK but without us having any influence in Brussels at all. Even
if it was an attractive option, Wolfgang Schauble, the German Finance Minister, likely to be
involved in negotiations, has said that “if the majority in Britain opts for
exit, that would be a decision against the single market. In is in. Out is out.”
The Norway model might not even be on the table.

The other option is a trade deal similar to the
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU.
But negotiations for this deal began in 2008 and the agreement is still
awaiting ratification before coming into effect. That’s a long period of
economic uncertainty. Plus there’s the cost- negotiations ran from 2008 to 2014. I don’t know how much a negotiator charges per hour, but I suspect that
it’s a significant figure. Six years’ worth of fees and other costs will be a significant
sum of money with no absolute guarantee of reaching an agreement any better
than what we currently have as EU members. European citizens aren’t
particularly keen on these types of deal either- 3 million of them have signeda petition against a similar arrangement currently being negotiated between the
EU and USA.

So on that basis, a solution isn’t jumping out at me. Are we
better in or out of the European Union? Based on our future trade prospects, in.

Immigration

This is Vote Leave’s strongest argument for a number of
reasons. Firstly, the free movement of workers (note- not free movement of
people) is seen as one of the most controversial of the EU’s fundamental
freedoms and one of the biggest indicators that the EU has gone beyond an
economic union and become a political one. It’s also an emotive issue, people
can see others coming from within the EU and might see them to be ‘stealing my
job,’ whereas the investment from the EU in agriculture and investment is not
so obvious to most people (of course that doesn’t mean that it’s not there and
not indirectly benefiting them). This is why I believe that accepting countries
with weaker economies was a mistake- it means that workers from those countries
are able to come to the UK and get paid lower wages than their UK counterparts,
but higher ones than if they were at home.

To me, that shows two things. Firstly, if we left the EU and
there was no migration from EU member states, we would still have net migration
of roughly 277,000, well above the “tens of thousands” target aspired to.

Secondly, if 277,000 people are able to migrate to the UK as
non-EU citizens, then EU citizens will be able to migrate to the UK if we were
to leave.

So even if you do see migration as a problem, then will
leaving the EU actually solve it? Is it worth the other negative impacts? To
me, no.

Firstly, a respected MP and doctor defected from Vote Leave
over the claim which to me says a lot about its legitimacy.

Secondly of all, £74 million a week forms a rebate that
never leaves Britain.

Thridly, other money returns in the forms of subsidies and
investment from the EU. If we left the EU, it’s quite likely that the
responsibility for these payments will fall on the UK Government to protect
these areas.

Then there’s the costs of any negotiations for any deal that
we might have to make. As I’ve already said, that could be a significant cost.

Then there’s the likely reduction in Government income due
to a potential economic decline.

There’s not a huge amount left after all that really and
history shows us that when the economy is in bad shape, the NHS budget suffers.
Not to mention that as it currently stands, no player in the Leave campaign has
any real influence as to where the budget goes.

The campaigns

Project fear and project hope. To me, it’s more like project
realism and project nativity.

We’re being asked whether we want to keep things the same or
do something different. The Remain campaign needs to convince us that change is
bad, the Leave campaign that change is good. Of course the Remain campaign will
be more negative. If we were voting whether or not to join the EU the opposite
would be the case.

My issue with the Leave campaign is that they have thus far
largely just dismissed what the Remain campaign have been saying, often without
evidence for their dismissal. They’ve been unable to tell us, with evidence or
support, what the UK would look like outside of the EU. They are not responding
to the army of experts telling us how disastrous Brexit would be. Leaving would
be a jump into the dark and Vote Leave seem to be naively ignoring the possible
consequences.

Vote Remain may be painting a miserable picture of a post-Brexit
UK, but they have much better evidence backing up this image.

Conclusion

Leaving the EU may solve some issues, but it would be the equivalent
of setting the house on fire to kill a spider. The EU is not perfect but
neither is the UK and we will not be stronger as a nation, or as an economy
outside of the EU, if we even are able to remain the UK with the threat of
Scotland wanting independence. Britain has historically punched above its weight
on the world stage but in the past century, we have only been able to maintain
this position as an EU member state.

I doubt that my voting intention alone will sway your vote.
But I do ask this- make an informed decision. This will shape the future of our
country for a long time to come. Don’t make an emotive decision, don’t make an
ill-informed decision. Look at the facts and not the rhetoric.

Britain is stronger in Europe, Britain is better in Europe
and Britain should remain in Europe. Please vote to remain in the European
Union on Thursday 23rd June.

Sunday, 22 June 2014

York’s sixth Park and Ride site recently opened at Popleton
Bar on the outskirts of the city. The opening made York’s scheme the biggest in
the country in terms of parking spaces and meant that every major ‘A’ road into
the city had a Park and Ride site where it intersected with the outer ring
road. The site provides 600 car parking spaces and will reduce the number of
cars within York City Centre.

One of the new electric buses passes the iconic Clifford's tower on the Turquoise line 59 Poppleton Bar Park & Ride

The opening of the site was also significant in that the bus
service linking the site to the city is ran with a dedicated fleet of electric
buses. Six Optare Versa EVs run the
service, enough to allow one to be on charge during the day, meaning that the
route should only use electric vehicles; the first route in Yorkshire to make
such a claim. The Versas join the sole Solo EV used on the UB1 University
service. Whilst the electric vehicle is predominantly used, a diesel bus is
used occasionally whilst the Solo is recharged.

York's other electric bus outside the University's Student Union building

Electric vehicles are a fairly new phenomenon which is
mostly thanks to grants courtesy of the Green Bus fund. Alongside those
vehicles in service with First and Transdev, York is expecting a converted
double decker for City Sightseeing duties, further Versa EVs for Park and Ride
work and Solo EVs for City Council funded routes, all utilising electric
propulsion. Similarly enthusiastic about electric buses is Nottingham County
Council, who have invested in a number of electric vehicles for their Medilink,
Locallink and Centrelink routes. One of the Citylink Park and Ride routes is
set to follow.

Locallink is the latest Nottingham service to go electric, after Centrelink received electric buses in 2012

The use of such vehicles can significantly reduce emissions
in City Centres. Buses do make up a
large proportion of City Centre traffic, standing on Parliament Street in
Nottingham or outside York Station will demonstrate just that. A lot of buses,
all congregating in a small area, producing a lot of greenhouse gas. Of course,
these buses are producing much fewer emissions than if all of their passengers
were in private cars, but the use of electric vehicles takes these emissions
out of heavily populated areas. It is naïve to think that electricity is a
clean fuel, but there are sustainable and environmentally friendly ways of
producing it, the same can not be said for diesel power. Despite a new, high
frequency route starting in York through the 59 route, there are no more
emissions.

One of the new Versas alongside a number of other, less environmentally friendly buses outside York's Cedar Court Grand hotel

Electric vehicles do come with their drawbacks. Often an
additional vehicle has to be used to allow one to charge during the day. On
Nottingham’s Centrelink route, four electric vehicles replaced three diesel ones.
In addition, given the cost, a spare fleet is not practical. Diesel vehicles
have been spotted on Nottingham’s Centrelink and York’s route 59 in the past
weeks. In fact, electric buses are so expensive they currently seem to only be
cost effective with funding from the Green Bus Fund which is obviously limited.
The infrastructure that needs to be put into place to support them is also
high. Despite York City Councillor David Levene claiming that all of York’s bus
network could in theory be entirely electric, it is a theory that will not
likely be put into practice any time soon due to cost and lack of funding.
First York would require their own electricity substation in order to have an
electric bus operation of that size.

A diesel Wrightbus Eclipse deputises on an electric route in York...

...whilst a diesel Optare Excel does the same in Nottingham (though I don't foresee many complaints from the photographer!)

However, electric buses are a positive thing and a step
towards more sustainable travel. There are environmentally friendly and city
centre friendly whilst still providing the same internal environment to
passengers as a standard bus. They may not be suitable for all routes,
particularly longer distance ones, but given the developments in recent years
this may well change in the future. Diesel will not last forever and having a
bus manufacturing industry that is pioneering new technologies is an incredibly
positive thing. Electric buses may be a relatively new concept, but their
future is a very positive one.

A sign of the future? Two electric buses and an electric car wait at York's newest Park and Ride site at Poppleton Bar

As ever, many thanks to Chris for the York photos and Matt for those of Nottingham

Friday, 13 June 2014

*Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts over the past few months. As many of you know, I am currently studying for a law degree which has involved an assessed piece of work being due in every week for the past few months which is where my efforts have been focussed. With that out of the way, and a lot more spare time over the Summer vacation, I hope to bring the blog back to its regular frequency*

A sight that will no longer be seen on Nottingham’s streets
will be that of the bendybus, which bowed out of service with NCT last week,
after 13 years in service. Having spent their time serving various parts of the
extensive network, the buses have seen use on Go2 Uni route 4 (formerly Unilink
4) for the past 9 years. The route will see double-deck operation from the next
academic year, making the articulated beasts surplus to requirements.

NCT did make a fairly big deal about their withdrawl;
certainly a bigger one than the Tridents that had provided an equal length of
service that were also withdrawn in the same week. The reason; it is unlikely
Nottingham will ever see such vehicles again.

One of the buses that NCT has recently retired

The Scania articulated buses were given a fond farewell from
the streets of Nottingham by all accounts. Certainly more so than their London
cousins. Boris Johnson’s dislike of the bendybus was well known and as part of
his election pledge in 2008. Three years later they were no longer present on
the streets of the capital. Johnson claimed that they were not suitable for the
streets of London due to their length and the danger they posed to other road
users, particularly cyclists. Whilst compounds across the country remain filled
with the London rejects (including one near Stafford), some have found use
elsewhere; Leicester being one example, where former London Bendybuses shuttle
students into the City Centre.

Boris Johnson saw bendybuses as a problem, and a New Bus for London as the solution

However, they haven’t always been any more popular in their new
homes than they were in London. The batch that went to Malta were unreliable,
unpopular and seemingly highly combustible. One now famous photo showed the
result of when a driver attempts to do a ‘U-turn’ in one, resulting in the bus
clogging up the entire road. Back home, Go-North East fell out of favour with
theirs on their Citylink 58 route, opting instead for rigid Optare Versas.

The main benefit of the bendybus is the overall capacity. A
London specification Citaro seats just five more than Trent Barton’s Wrightbus
Eclipses, however with a generous standing capacity. A double deck bus’
inability to have standees on the top deck results in the bendy bettering it in
that regard. It means that they are ideal for busy routes where customers are
not on the bus for a significant period of time. This is a very particular type
of route and it is this lack of versatility that is why so many of the buses
are sat out of use up and down the country. The other is the sheer issue of
size; they are long and difficult to manoeuvre; they simply are not suitable
for certain roads.

Despite being taller and thus less streamlined, these double deck buses were more fuel efficient than the Wright Streetcars that they replaced

Which leads me nicely to their use in York. York is one of
the few places across the country where Bendybuses were bought specifically for
the City, as opposed to being London cast-offs (or in the case of Leeds, York
cast offs.) The 15 strong fleet of Mercedes Benz buses are used exclusively on
four of the city’s six park and ride routes; three routinely and the fourth
during busy periods. They therefore use roads across the city and throughout
the ancient city centre; the same city centre that apparently rendered the ‘Ftr’
buses unsuitable a few years ago.

The Ftr scheme ended after pressure from the City Council who felt that the size of the vehicles meant they were unsuitable for the city.

Councillor
James Alexander said in 2010: “The Ftr has been an unmitigated, costly
disaster. Not only is it too big for York, but it has been costly to taxpayers
due to the road changes required to service it. More than £1.5 million has been
spent on it and this could have been better spent on genuine investment in
public transport.”

One of the many tight turns the Citaros have to navigate in the City Centre. This one is part of the Grimston Bar route

So if these buses are too big, then are the Citaros
as well? I'm inclined to say yes having watched a number on the Grimston Bar
route negotiating their way through York’s tight streets yesterday. Yet, there
is no uproar about them. How intriguing.

A Citaro navigates one of many bendybus friendly roundabouts in the city. The cost of similar infrastructure for the ftr scheme faced much criticism

Despite
their widespread use throughout mainland Europe for quite some time now, the
bendybus appears to have been a noughties trend that has fallen out of fashion
and out of favour within the UK. The use of double deckers is instead far more
widespread and arguably more practical for our roads. York, London and
Nottingham are all cities where bendybuses have been replaced with double
deckers and that is a trend I can see continuing. The older buses on York’s Park
& Ride network are due for renewal; I will be somewhat surprised if new
bendybuses find their way onto York’s streets.

As ever, many thanks to Chris for the York photos and Matt for those of Nottingham and London.

Thursday, 27 February 2014

The Optare Solo will perhaps be regarded in the future as
the iconic bus of the Noughties. The standard Solo design was the pioneer of
its field, the first low floor wheel forward bus and offered unprecedented access
to all, the name originating from the words ‘so low’ given the ease of access
it offered to initially buggy pushers and in later examples wheelchair users. In
the 15 years that the standard Solo was available, over 4,000 were sold and it
is difficult to think of a town or city that isn’t routinely visited by a Solo.
Its successor, the Solo SR, faces far more competition, with the Enviro 200 and
Streetlite WF, however it continues to be popular. Brand new examples have very
recently entered service with operators in York and Nottingham, including a
fully electric one in York.

The standard Solo is a perfect example of a timeless
design. Car manufactures would not build
the same model without any major modifications for 15 years as people would not
buy them. Indeed most bus operators wouldn’t either because the operators would
get bored and the orders would stop coming in. Trent Barton bought their first
Optare Solo in early 2000, yet another two were added to the fleet 11 years
later. Granted, the engines had been updated and the interiors were much
improved but from the outside, to Joe public, it looked just the same. When
Trent Barton started running the Royal Derby route, 4 brand new Solos were
acquired for the service. When a 5th needed adding, it was sourced
from within the fleet. A ‘W’ plate Solo was given new seat covers and a paint
job and put out onto the road. It was indistinguishable from the others, bare a
few minor details.

For Optare, this was perhaps a blessing and a curse. The
fact that operators were still buying the product meant that money didn’t
urgently have to be spent on R&D, as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t
fix it.” However, operators may also have not been so inclined to invest
significant amounts of money into a brand new bus that looks like a much older
one. Or, indeed, a new bus that looks identical to the slightly older but much
cheaper one available on the second hand market. In 2006, Trent Barton chose to
refurbish their ‘51’ plate Solos on the H1 rather than buy new ones, as, from
their perspective buying new buses would be simply “buying new number plates.” However,
this was perhaps simply an excuse, given that three years later they bought a
fleet of 13 Solos to replace existing ones on the Nines.

If you were to do a tour around “trentbarton land,” you’d be
surprised to hear that the standard Solo has been out of production for 18
months now. You’d think that a mistake had been made, given that you were
certain that you’d seen brand new ones darting around the place. What you’d
actually seen was a number of the Solos, ranging from ‘X’ to ‘02’ plate that
have been refurbished to a high standard. So high in fact that they look newer
than some of the last examples of the standard Solo ever made. In that regard,
the Solo was a fantastic investment for Trent Barton. To have buses that are
over 12 years old looking so modern is fantastic for an image and cost point of
view. They may be a bit noisy but they are very presentable and certainly give
off the right impression, with the help of the new Trent Barton brand.

The Solo SR is a modern looking and popular replacement. It
too is becoming a more common sight across the UK. Trent Barton’s latest
examples are destined for a re-branded Radcliffe Line and their lime green
livery will stand out around Nottingham and Rushcliffe. The ‘10’ plate standard
Solos that they’ll replace are apparently destined for the Amberline (not confirmed)
and will be the first of the ‘newer’ standard Solos in the new brand.

The new order: These brand new Solo SRs are helping out on the Bingham Xprss whilst the resident Tempos are being refurbished

The Solo has been one of Optare’s most successful products
and continues to be the perfect vehicle for so many routes across the country.
Its introduction came at a time when people were still a little sceptical about
low floor buses, but it proved its case and really helped make public transport
more accessible for so many people. It really is the icon of a decade.

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Growing up in the Peak District, I was largely unaware of
the “big three” bus companies in the UK until I developed more of an interest
in the industry. With the exception of
one route, Ashbourne was served by a group of independent operators, Trent
buses running the main route to Derby with small firms such as Glovers and
G&J Holmes operating the others. Slightly larger firms, from a bit further
away also ran some services, such as D&G, TM Travel and Bowers. Arriva ran
the 109 to Derby via the long route, but they seemed no different given their
tiny presence in the town.

Ashbourne is now one of the few towns where the "big 3" operate no services at all. Services are mostly ran by High Peak, Trent Barton and Yourbus.

Derby was slightly different, Trent buses, then Trent Barton
were the company providing the long distance services and some suburban ones,
whilst the majority of inner city services were ran by the aquamarine buses of
Arriva Derby in their generic colour scheme which could be seen all over the
country. In contrast to the obviously local Trent Barton, they felt distant and
impersonal. Too large a firm to care or be that bothered about issues in such a
tiny part of their empire. This showed in the poor state of their fleet, very
little was DDA compliant (whilst Trent Barton had managed an entirely low floor
fleet) and the buses were old and tatty.

Up until 2008, this was one of the newest buses in the Arriva Derby fleet...

In 2008, it seems that someone in Sunderland remembered
about Derby, and a lot of money was invested into new vehicles for the city.
The network was re-examined and from my experience patronage has increased as a
result. It took a long hard look at a specific area to realise and resolve the
problems. This, to me seems testament to the fact that a local focus is vital
to running a successful bus company, as opposed to a national strategy.

...however there has since been significant investment.

And it seems that bus companies are waking up to this fact.
Whilst York does see a lot of independent operators, the services are dominated
by First, and to a lesser extent Transdev. Both are multinational companies
with operations all over Europe and in First’s case the world. But both operator’s
standard liveried vehicles have “York” stuck on the side of the buses in huge
letters. It lets passengers know that they matter to the company, and that, in
this case York, is thought about on its own. It is its own place with its own
issues which need to be looked at individually.

Both companies in York use the "York" name to promote their services

This is something that Transdev (and their predecessor
Blazefield) have always been good at. Giles Fearnley and Stuart Wilde had a
vast network across the North of England, from Whitby to Blackburn, but rather
than rolling out one uniform brand, each area was ran individually with its own
local name. As such, today we see names such as “Harrogate and District” and “Lancashire
United.” It is seemingly an approach that Fernley has taken over to his new
employment within First group. The first buses in the new First livery had the
names of their operating area placed on the side and this has continued ever
since. The buses operating in York in the new livery have (funnily enough) York
written on the side, in purple writing with the silhouettes of landmarks on the
side, such as the Minster and Millennium bridge. It is a trend repeated across
the country and gives First a more personal feel.

More and more buses in the First York fleet are having the new fleetnames applied.

But in the South of England, one arm of the First group is
taking things a little further. Those taking a look at “The buses of Somerset”
would probably have no idea that it was
a First subsidy. The Stenning designed website seems more akin to
Go-Ahead but it shows a whole new approach for Frist group. The website explains
“Over the coming months we’ll be
giving your local First buses a bit of a makeover, with smart new colours, a
stylish new look and a name that means something locally.” A lot of
investment is no doubt going into this new brand, which seems to show that a
locally recognisable identity is becoming more and more essential in
encouraging passengers onboard.

A whole new approach in Somerset from First group.

So will we see
such a scheme in York? Unlikely at this stage I would presume (the Northern
England First divisions don’t seem as adventurous as their Southern
counterparts). However, locally recognisable and therefore accountable bus divisions
do seem to be the way forward. Within the next six months or so, I will imagine
all of First York’s buses will be in the new livery, complete with ‘York’ logo.
Passengers will know that this is one of York’s buses and will only be used in
York and is, in essence ‘theirs.’ I doubt this will have a dramatic effect on
ridership, but it clearly comes with its benefits, as First’s investment in
Somerset seems to suggest.

All York photos courtesy of Chris and all Derby photos courtesy of Matt.

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

It’s been a month now since Trent Barton’s H1 route between
Derby and Heanor started using brand new Optare Versas. I wrote a blog post at
the time (from York) about their arrival but this week is the first time I’ve
been back in ‘Trent Barton land’ since, and I thought I’d give them a try to
see what they were like, and how they compared to their predecessors.

My first bus of the day was a Swift. Regular driver Jo was fantastic, really friendly and she dealt with awful weather conditions and a full and standing bus superbly.

My initial plan was to change from my Swift service straight
onto the H1 but torrential rain meant that my bus was delayed and I missed my
planned bus. Instead I did my route in reverse, first heading on the Red Arrow
to Nottingham Victoria before using the Rapid 1 to Heanor. My Red Arrow was
busy, particularly for the time of day (and particularly in comparison to the
competitive Citylink that left at a similar time) but fast as ever.

A high frequency and great quality coaches continues to be a winning formula on the Red Arrow

I had a short while to wait in Victoria for the Rapid 1, and
I noticed that a lot of work has been done to it since the last time I was
there. New screens make it easier to find the times for your bus and the whole
place looks far more presentable. Given that the predominant user of the
facility is Trent Barton, there’s plenty of their brand around the place which
gives it a modern feel. Getting these sorts of facilities right is vital to
ensuring that more people start to use to bus so it’s great to see that
improvements have been made.

Yesterday was my second trip on the Rapid 1. Since my last
trip, the route has seen success at the UK Bus awards, winning the prize for
“Making Buses a Better Choice.” Anyone who takes a trip on the route can see
exactly why. Prior to its 2011 introduction, the route between Langley Mill and
Nottingham was “around the houses” and really time consuming. The Rapid 1
shaves around 25 minutes off journey times from Ripley, Heanor and Langley Mill
into Nottingham which is a significant time saving. With the route being
non-stop after Langley Mill, the driver also has the freedom to change route to
avoid traffic. Upon leaving Victoria yesterday I was slightly concerned that
the driver may have thought he was driving the Two, as we headed towards
Wollaton. However, it soon became clear that the driver’s fantastic knowledge
of Nottingham’s roads meant that we had avoided long queues and delays along
the A610 before the M1 and before we knew it we were thundering up the dual carriageway
with the journey to Heanor taking just 30 minutes.

The buses on the Rapid 1 proudly declare their UK Bus Award success inside and out

Whilst waiting for my H1 to arrive in Heanor, a competitive
Y1 service pulled in. It was a Mercedes Benz Citaro; however it was branded for
the Y5 service between Derby and Nottingham which drew a few confused looks.
One person boarded the bus, using a student genie. Several other people waited
for the H1 service that pulled in shortly afterwards.

Yourbus aren't as strict as Trent Barton when it comes to allocating branded bus to their correct routes, which can cause some confusion

It’s difficult to appreciate how eye-catching the new buses
are by just looking at the photos. The green colour really stands out and this
is helped by the bright, coloured LED destination screens. Heanor market place
was dull and miserable at the time but it really did brighten it up. I was the
first to board and after a friendly greet from my driver as I tapped on my
student Mango card and I sat down.

The new Versas are really eye catching

Internally, the buses are state of the art. The seats are
high backed and that combined with the extra soft padding makes them
phenomenally comfortable. The wall coves have been redesigned and now reflect the
“rolling hill” effect adopted for the new zigzag adverts. They work really well;
they look modern, presentable whilst being really informative. They are a far
cry from the peeling off third party adverts other operators insist on
plastering inside their buses. The dark moquette and wall panels combine nicely
with the cream ceiling and bright (but not dazzling) lighting to create an open
and airy look (despite no rear window), whilst the H1 themed rear mural turns a
normally unutilised and clinical looking section of the bus into something
quite attractive.

The interiors are smart, bright and airy, and they still have the new bus smell!

The free Wi-Fi was easy to connect to and was really quick.
Thought had even been put into the “launch screen” which was also H1 themed.
The bus was named “Brian,” thanks to the Namesake foundation, which allows
people to name buses in exchange for a donation to the charity which supports
the breast cancer unit at the Royal Derby Hospital. Next stop screens announcements also allow people to
know where to get off. This is obviously great from an accessibility point of
view, in that it allows those unfamiliar with the area and those with sight disabilities
to know where to get off. The problem with its use on the H1 is that there are
around 40 stops along the route, and with the buses travelling quicker than
other routes with the technology (such as Indigo), this can mean one
announcement every minute. Whilst I personally began to ignore them fairly
early on, they do seem to be one of the route’s biggest criticisms, by looking
at the route’s unique hashtag (#tH1nk). This, and a faulty mango touch off
reader, were the only drawbacks of the service in my opinion.

The Wi-Fi was quick and easy to connect to, and was fast as well.

Trent Barton’s self-proclaimed title as “the really good bus
company” is often disputed. However, after some time away from their services,
coming back to them makes me realise that they are certainly better than your
average company. All the drivers I encountered were polite and friendly and the
vehicles were far better than others I’ve recently travelled on. Staff were on
hand at all major terminals to assist and advise customers and information was
readily available, both on bus and at the three “trent barton shops” I passed
on my travels. The customer experience is the number one priority and it shows,
the H1 versas may well be state of the art but all of the other routes I
travelled on were of a much higher quality than is seen elsewhere in the country.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, operators could learn a lot from
Trent Barton, and I urge them to take a trip on the new H1 to see how it is
done.

Thursday, 6 February 2014

My daily commute to University involves a free ride between
York’s two campuses, occasionally on First York’s 4, however usually on the
Transdev Unibus 44, simply because it drops me off closer to my department. Today
was no exception and it was, by chance, one of the more recent additions to the
Transdev York fleet that took me (halfway) home. I am referring to one of the ‘Y’
plate Plaxton Presidents, transferred in from Harrogate, mentioned in my last
post.

The Presidents have been at York a while now, but today was the first time I've seen one venture onto the 44

As I also mentioned, the two new additions join two sister
vehicles, which are part of the branded unibus fleet. Despite being the two
oldest members of the 9 strong 44 fleet, they are, in my opinion the most
comfortable. They have ample legroom and nicely padded seats. The only drawback
is that their interior is a little dated, hardly surprising given their age.

The two former Harrogate Presidents join two Unibus branded sisters at York

I was therefore pleasantly surprised at how modern my
offering this evening was in comparison. Unlike its sister vehicles, the
Harrogate batch have had a full refurbishment, with new flooring, seat covers,
wall panels and repainted grab rails. It looked like a new bus, and was many
passengers were commenting on how much nicer this “new” bus was in comparison
to the “old” ones (which are the same age if not newer).

Not the best photo (taken quickly on my iPhone) but it does demonstrate the modern looking interior on the refurbished buses

It just goes to show how much of an impact a refurbishment
can make to a vehicle. Transdev are clearly good at this, but so are Trent
Barton. The people of Hucknall and Belper would no doubt agree to that, as
their designated vehicles come out of “dreamworks” (the affectionate nickname
given to the Langley Mill refurb centre) looking like they’ve just come out of
the box. The buses on Hucknall’s Connect certainly don’t look 14 years old,
either on the inside or the outside, but the effort put into rejuvenating the
Sixes fleet is like nothing seen before within Trent Barton.

The buses on Hucknall's Connect certainly don't look their 14 years

As well as a refresh to bring the brand in line with the new
corporate style, plenty of thought and effort has been put into making the
journeys more comfortable and enjoyable. A journey between Derby and Bakewell
can take over an hour and a half so comfort is of paramount importance. It’s
therefore to see that high backed seats have been retrofitted, alongside more
padded bases, as seen on the 2012 Solo SRs and Versas. It’s difficult to
describe in words but there is a notable difference in the comfort of these
seats compared to those on the i4 Tempos. Free wifi will also allow passengers
to keep themselves entertained, although you’d think the breathtaking views of
the Peak District along the route would be entertainment enough…

The buses on the Sixes look as good as new inside and out thanks to their refurbishment

Thorough refurbishment is a cost efficient yet effective way
of maintain an attractive fleet. Buses do age quickly, they get dirty and the
volume of people using them can make the seats fade into nothing. Failing to
act on a deteriorating environment inside a bus can lead to passengers being
put off their use which can have a long term negative impact. Buses are
expensive things to buy, and a good quality refurbishment is far from cheap,
but the results are obvious. Neither Transdev nor Trent Barton would be
investing the money that they are in refurbishing vehicles if they weren’t
seeing results by way of increased passenger numbers and therefore increased
profits. Other companies would only benefit if they took a look inside some of
their buses, and engaged them in a programme of thorough refurbishment to make
them as good as new once again.

The two York President photos are from Chris whilst the Trent Barton photos are from Matt. The interior pic is mine, though I'm not so worried about anyone nicking that (photography's not my strong point!).